High school girls tennis: Skyridge rules 6A again with perfect finish

Liberty Park resembled an old-fashioned pumpkin patch Saturday afternoon — with a lot of tennis mixed in between.

When competition was completed, the Skyridge Falcons put the finishing touch on a warm, sunny day, winning all five individual titles to claim their fifth straight 6A state crown. Afterward, coach Ben Armstrong said it was a perfect season.

Skyridge dominated the three-day event and ended any doubt of its abilities when every player competing in the school’s fluorescent orange uniforms advanced to the championship.

Armstrong, his proud coaching staff and hundreds of orange-clad fans then watched as the Falcons earned 75 points to outdistance Lone Peak (39), American Fork (28), Corner Canyon (25) and a host of others.

“Not all the best high school players in the state play high school tennis but we play as a team,” Armstrong said. “These kids are proud to wear our colors and cheer on everyone else who does, too.

“We came in wanting to win our fifth straight (title) and have all five players advance (to the finals) and we accomplish that, so you could say we had our version of a perfect season. The kids have every reason to feel proud.”

Bella Lewis started the day by defeating her semifinal and championship-round opponents to win her second straight state crown, then Andi Armstrong and Naomi Johnson quickly followed to end anyone else’s hope of ending Skyridge’s streak.

Kaia Sperry and Ava Ericksen won both of their doubles matches and Sophia Bleak and Amy Jaussi downed Lone Peak’s Emmeline Smith and Janessa Ashton 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 to prove the Falcons’ dominance this season.

“We may not have won all of our matches this season but that doesn’t always matter,” Armstrong said. “What we’ll recall is how we all came together at the end (of the year).”.

The final match had a big crowd and, when it ended, there was a huge roar from the Skyridge crowd and then the entire team and support staff stormed the court, almost like the players had won Wimbledon.

It wasn’t the same, but it felt that way because perfection is so rarely achieved.

“And it was against Lone Peak,” Armstrong said. “They are our neighbor and our rival and we make each other better. All the players know each other and compete against each other in tournaments all year long. Sometimes they’ll even call each other and ask to go play. We’re lucky to have that.”

Not surprisingly, Lone Peak, which last won state in 2018, gave Skyridge its toughest matches. The schools met in championship-round matches three times.

Kamryn Newman of Bingham reached the final in No. 1 singles and American Fork’s Allie Jenkins put up a good fight in No. 3 singles.